Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP lowered its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,849 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,224 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.34. The company had a trading volume of 3,018,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,443. The stock has a market cap of $55.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $125.06 and a 12 month high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $242.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.25.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RCL. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.53.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.